After 6 months on the road we needed a little down time and we decided upon Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. It's only 180 km from the border, but the drive took us about 5 hours. The first section of the "highway" near the border is very rough and full of big trucks going 20 km per hour. The next part is a windy mountain road. Again with trucks going very slowly. The middle part is a smooth 4 lane amazing road until the turn off to Solala. The road down to the lake is 17 km , but it is 85% down hill and was under construction with 50% grated pavement.

This is a lovely lakeside town where 85% of the population are Mayan. The women and a few of the men dress in traditional clothes that are very bright and the color varies from village to village around the lake.

Almost every time I passed Maria i enden up buying some strange fruit she had for sale. These are Sapote and they have the flavour and texture of pumpkin pie. My other favorite haunt was to see Mirna at Super Pan for fresh hot banana muffins for 1Q each. On my way out of the bakery one night I saw Norbert on his V strom and also from Vancouver!

We ventured across the lake by water taxi to the village of San Juan and then walked to the next village of San Pedro. Each of the villages around the lake has different local arts and crafts for sale.

We were here over the holidays so there was all kinds of activities, street dances, and of course hundreds of fireworks. At midnight on Dec 25 and 31 it sounded like a Chinese fireworks factory was on fire.

We stopped to ask this traffic officer where a thai restaurant was. She called on her radio to ask, but then her colleagues drove up next to her and started laughing because it was in the building right behind us.

This is a colonial city where they are not allowed to put up signage, so part of the fun of walking around the city is that you have to poke your head in all the doorways to see what is inside. This is also a city of secret courtyards. The beautiful doors we love to take photos of often have amazing garden oasis behind them.

On the advice of our friend Julio in Antigua we set off from the lake into the mountains northward. We road from Panajachel up into the Quiche (kee-chay). The road from Sacapulas to San Cristobal Verapaz is unpaved and sort of like driving up a river bed at times. We were luck with good weather or it could have been a bit of a nightmare.

After a long day we arrived in Coban and realized we knew the cross street of our hotel, but not the zone. The same cross streets are in ALL the zones. After a bit of effort we did manage to locate it. The town has little in the way of sights as it is really just a cross road to the north of the country. We did visit the small cathedral and the famous Pollo Compero.

The next morning we were up and on the road at 6 am to drive the 67 km to Lanquin town. We left in the dawn light and drove up into the mountains draped in mist. The road is paved and curvy except the last 11 km which is unpaved steep and curvy.

The Semuc Champey is a limestone bridge that the water has eroded and formed caves, waterfalls, and swimming pools. We hiked and swam in the caves, jumped into the river on a rope swing and from the bridge, hiked to the Mirador, and swam in the pools. The ride back to the lodge was a bit rougher in the rain.

There was a party atmosphere especially during happy hour. It poured rain all night and into the next day on our steep ride up the road from Lanquin to the pavement. There was also dense fog in the mountains. The rain let up near Salama and we decided to take the off road route over the mountains from Rabinal to San Pedro. After a 10 hour day we were so happy to arrive at Julio's house in Antigua.